Under House Arrest

The Imperial family of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia

Olga, Alexei, Anastasia and Tatiana under house arrest . Anastasia sits with her little dog, Ortipo, in her lap. The Grand Duchess Maria is absent from this photo. In my brief research, I believe this image was made in late spring, 1918, at the Ipatien House in Yekaterinburg. Talks were under way to get the family to Britain or France. Their hopes were high, but they were rejected by the European countries because of the complications of World War I.

CORRECTION: Additional investigation leads me to believe this photo was made in 1917, in the gardens of the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo. This was the family residence during the rein of Nicholas II, and the first phase of their house arrest by the revolutionary government. Daily life was not to bad here, it was to get much worse. The second phase was in the city of Tobolsk, and the final phase was the Ipatien House in the city of Yekaterinburg, where they were executed.

In the middle of the night, July,17, 1918, the family was taken to a basement room beneath the Ipatien House and executed by a firing squad. The firing squad consisted of seven communist soldiers from central Europe and three Russian Bolsheviks. Instead of rifles, hand guns were used. The commanding officer,Yakov Yurovsky, later confirmed the execution. Yurovsky related that Nicolas and Alexandra died very quickly. The four girls, because of thick clothing, did not succumb to the first rounds. They were bayoneted and shot in the head. Alexi, the young heir to the throne, was the last to still show life, and was finished off with two rounds. Four loyal house servants also died in this event.